In traditional cellular networks, the number of radio resources is controlled by the physical limitations of the hardware. That is, for example, a network must be configured solely as a GSM network or a WCDMA network.
With the advent of software defined radios (SDRs) the maximum number of transmission modes that can be supported by a single hardware element increases significantly. In this context, transmission modes refers to either radio resources or modes of operation (operational modes). Radio resources refer to, for example, the number of carriers (i.e. frequencies) supported or the number of frequency bands supported. A mode of operation refers to, for example, GSM or WCDMA, i.e. a radio standard.
A problem arises since some new network feature, such as automatic channel selection (ACS), may attempt to use as many radio resources as is supported, by the software defined hardware, even if this is not optimum for the network.
A further possible problem arises in that the use of software definable radio potentially enables network operators to use hardware for more extensive network support than was envisaged at the time the network equipment was sold. Thus the equipment manufacturer may be unable to limit the number of radio resources or modes of operation that can be exploited by an operator.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a technique for overcoming the above discussed problems.